Bindra wants BCCI to make minutes of 1997 meeting public

He said his report submitted to the agency, generally dealt with the incidence of “special favour given to TV companies while selling coverage rights, mushrooming growth of masala (exhibition) and thaila (money raising) matches in these off-shore countries, which have been the cause of rot-setting in cricket”.

Bindra alleged that cricketers are never serious about the game while playing in these countries. Referring to the Kapil Dev controversy, Bindra said he had only revealed what Manoj Prabhakar had conveyed to him. “I have nothing against Kapil and I am not aware of the relationship between Prabhakar and Kapil… moreover Home Minister LK Advani had also said the same thing in Nagpur… why hold me guilty,” Bindra asked.

Meanwhile, the CBI is is scrutinising the report submitted by Bindra and is likely to question him on the issue, agency sources said here.

The Agency’s Special Crime Branch was going through Bindra’s report running into 360 pages, the sources said, adding it would question him again in case of doubts.

Bindra’s report generally deals with allotment of TV rights of cricket matches 1996 onwards, the sources said.

Bindra submitted his report to CBI on Monday when he appeared before the agency officials on his own and offered to co-operate further if required.

The CBI has examined four persons so far in the case after it registered a prelimnary inquiry into the scandal following a direction from Sports Ministry on May 2.

However, the sources refused to divulge their names saying it could hamper the ongoing investigations into the scandal.

The CBI is also likely to procure the tapes, which allegedly contain conversation about match fixing, from Mumbai police and Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), they said.

The Crime Branch of Mumbai police and DRI stumbled upon tapes of a conversation about fixing of match in 1995 while solving a case of kidnapping of a businessman in the metropolis, the soures claimed.

The CBI spokesman refused to set any time frame for the investigations and said “the agency is probing the scandal and collecting all relevant information and documents.”

Earlier, sleuths of the investigating agency questioned Sunil Dev, manager of Indian Cricket team during its tour of South Africa in 1997, at his office on Thursday last and inquired about the allegations reportedly levelled by him in the past about match-fixing, agency sources said here.

Sunil Dev was the first person to be questioned by the agency.

CBI is planning to question Manoj Prabhakar soon about his alleged claim that ace Indian all-rounder Kapil Dev had offered him bribe to play below his potential.

A team under Joint Director RN Shawney has been formed to probe the allegations. The agency has also sought information from sportspersons and sports bodies, as also members of the public on the cricket match-fixing scandal. CBI has also appealed to the press to give any information that it may have on any aspect of match fixing, betting or other malpractices relating to cricket.